87402 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 241 / Monday, December 18, 2023 / Notices 

inventories, measure current levels of 

production. New orders figures serve as 

an indicator of future production 

commitments. Changes in the level of 

unfilled orders, because of excess or 

shortfall of new orders compared with 

shipments, are used to measure the 

excess (or deficiency) in the demand for 

manufactured products. Changes in the 

level of inventories and the relation of 

these to shipments are used to project 

future movements in manufacturing 

activity. These statistics are valuable for 

analysts of business cycle conditions, 

including members of the Council of 

Economic Advisers (CEA), the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis (BEA), the Federal 

Reserve Board (FRB), the Department of 

the Treasury, The Conference Board, 

business firms, trade associations, 

private research and consulting 

agencies, and the academic community. 

Frequency: Monthly. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: Title 13, United 

States Code, Sections 131, 182, and 193. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. 

Follow the instructions to view the 

Department of Commerce collections 

currently under review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 

by using the search function and 

entering either the title of the collection 

or the OMB Control Number 0607–0008. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, 

Commerce Department. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27722 Filed 12–15–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; Survey of Housing Starts, 

Sales, and Completions 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit the following information 

collection request to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and clearance in accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, on or after the date of publication 

of this notice. We invite the general 

public and other Federal agencies to 

comment on proposed, and continuing 

information collections, which helps us 

assess the impact of our information 

collection requirements and minimize 

the public’s reporting burden. Public 

comments were previously requested 

via the Federal Register on August 3, 

2023, during a 60-day comment period. 

This notice allows for an additional 30 

days for public comments. 

Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, 

Department of Commerce. 

Title: Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, 

and Completions. 

OMB Control Number: 0607–0110 

Form Number(s): SOC–QI/SF.1 and 

SOC–QI/MF.1. 

Type of Request: Regular submission, 

request for an extension, without 

change, of a currently approved 

collection. 

Number of Respondents: We collect 

data for approximately 21,363 new 

buildings a year. A builder or owner 

may be contacted several times based on 

how long the construction project takes. 

We estimate the average number of 

times we need to contact the builder or 

owner is between 7 and 8 times. The 

total number of responses annually is 

161,412. 

Average Hours per Response: 5 

minutes. 

Burden Hours: 13,451. 

Needs and Uses: The U. S. Census 

Bureau is requesting an extension of the 

currently approved collection for the 

Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and 

Completions, otherwise known as the 

Survey of Construction (SOC). The SOC 

is co-sponsored by the U.S. Census 

Bureau and the U.S. Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD). 

Government agencies and private 

companies use statistics from SOC to 

monitor and evaluate the large and 

dynamic housing construction industry. 

Data for two principal economic 

indicators are produced from the SOC: 

New Residential Construction (housing 

starts and housing completions) and 

New Residential Sales. In addition, a 

number of other statistical series are 

produced, including extensive 

information on the physical 

characteristics of new residential 

buildings, and indexes measuring rates 

of inflation in the price of new 

buildings. These statistics are based on 

a sample of residential buildings in 

permit-issuing places and a road 

canvass in a sample of land areas not 

covered by building permit systems. 

Census Bureau field representatives 

(FRs) mail forms to new respondents to 

complete. A few days later, the FRs 

either call or visit the respondents to 

enter their survey responses into a 

laptop computer using Computer 

Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) 

software. The respondents are home 

builders, real estate agents, rental 

agents, or new homeowners of sampled 

residential buildings. FRs contact 

respondents multiple times based on the 

number of projects in the sample and 

the number of months required to 

complete the project. 

The Census Bureau uses the 

information collected in the SOC to 

publish estimates of the number of new 

residential housing units started, under 

construction, completed, and the 

number of new houses sold and for sale. 

The Census Bureau also publishes many 

financial and physical characteristics of 

new housing units. Government 

agencies use these statistics to evaluate 

economic policy, measure progress 

towards the national housing goal, make 

policy decisions, and formulate 

legislation. For example, the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System uses data from this survey to 

evaluate the effect of interest rates. The 

Bureau of Economic Analysis uses the 

data in developing the Gross Domestic 

Product (GDP). The private sector uses 

the information for estimating the 

demand for building materials and the 

many products used in new housing 

and to schedule production, 

distribution, and sales efforts. The 

financial community uses the data to 

estimate the demand for short-term 

(construction loans) and long-term 

(mortgages) borrowing. 

Frequency: Monthly. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: The Census Bureau is 

authorized under title 13, United States 

Code, sections 131 and 182 to collect 

information, and under title 13 section 

8(b) to perform survey work for other 

agencies, including HUD. HUD is 

authorized under title 12 U.S.C., 

sections 1701z–1 and 1701z–2g to 

collect or obtain information on new 

residential buildings. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. 

Follow the instructions to view the 

Department of Commerce collections 

currently under review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 241 / Monday, December 18, 2023 / Notices 87403 

1See Certain Pea Protein from the People’s 

Republic of China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty 

Investigation, 88 FR 52116 (August 7, 2023) 

(Initiation Notice). 

2See Certain Pea Protein from the People’s 

Republic of China: Postponement of Preliminary 

Determination in the Countervailing Duty 

Investigation, 88 FR 62055 (September 8, 2023). 

by using the search function and 

entering either the title of the collection 

or the OMB Control Number 0607–0110. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, 

Commerce Department. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27729 Filed 12–15–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign-Trade Zones Board 

[B–49–2023] 

Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 81; 

Authorization of Production Activity; 

Millipore Corporation; (Beverage 

Filtration and Purification Devices); 

Jaffrey, New Hampshire 

On August 15, 2023, Millipore 

Corporation submitted a notification of 

proposed production activity to the FTZ 

Board for its facility within Subzone 

81D, in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. 

The notification was processed in 

accordance with the regulations of the 

FTZ Board (15 CFR part 400), including 

notice in the Federal Register inviting 

public comment (88 FR 56794, August 

21, 2023). On December 13, 2023, the 

applicant was notified of the FTZ 

Board’s decision that no further review 

of the activity is warranted at this time. 

The production activity described in the 

notification was authorized, subject to 

the FTZ Act and the FTZ Board’s 

regulations, including section 400.14. 

Dated: December 13, 2023. 

Elizabeth Whiteman, 

Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27743 Filed 12–15–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign-Trade Zones Board 

[B–63–2023] 

Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 17, 

Notification of Proposed Production 

Activity; Panasonic Energy 

Corporation of North America; 

(Lithium-Ion Battery Cells); De Soto, 

Kansas 

Panasonic Energy Corporation of 

North America submitted a notification 

of proposed production activity to the 

FTZ Board (the Board) for its facilities 

in De Soto, Kansas within FTZ 17. The 

notification conforming to the 

requirements of the Board’s regulations 

(15 CFR 400.22) was received on 

December 11, 2023. 

Pursuant to 15 CFR 400.14(b), FTZ 

production activity would be limited to 

the specific foreign-status material(s)/ 

components and specific finished 

product described in the submitted 

notification (summarized below) and 

subsequently authorized by the Board. 

The benefits that may stem from 

conducting production activity under 

FTZ procedures are explained in the 

background section of the Board’s 

website—accessible via www.trade.gov/ 

ftz. 

The proposed finished product is 

finished lithium-ion battery cells (duty 

rate is 3.4%). 

The proposed foreign-status materials 

and components include: graphite 

components (natural; synthetic; natural 

and synthetic blend); sealants; Nmethyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP); Nmethylpyrrolidone with carbon black 

conductive agent; lithiated nickel oxide; 

silicon monoxide; lithiated silicate; 

silicon composite material; 

poly(vinylidene fluoride) binder 

(PVDF); polyacrylamide; sodium 

carboxymethyl cellulose thickener; 

polypropylene components (film with 

acrylic adhesive tape; gaskets; 

insulator); polyimide adhesive tape; 

polyethylene separators; styrene 

butadiene rubber latex; copper foil; 

nickel clad copper negative tabs; and, 

aluminum components (rolls; foil; 

rupture discs; cathode tabs) (duty rate 

ranges from duty-free to 6.5%).The 

request indicates that some components 

are subject to an antidumping/ 

countervailing duty (AD/CVD) order/ 

investigation if imported from certain 

countries. The Board’s regulations (15 

CFR 400.14(e)) require that merchandise 

subject to AD/CVD orders, or items 

which would be otherwise subject to 

suspension of liquidation under AD/ 

CVD procedures if they entered U.S. 

customs territory, be admitted to the 

zone in privileged foreign (PF) status (19 

CFR 146.41). The request also indicates 

that certain materials/components are 

subject to duties under section 232 of 

the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 

(section 232) or section 301 of the Trade 

Act of 1974 (section 301), depending on 

the country of origin. The applicable 

section 232 and section 301 decisions 

require subject merchandise to be 

admitted to FTZs in PF status. 

Public comment is invited from 

interested parties. Submissions shall be 

addressed to the Board’s Executive 

Secretary and sent to: ftz@trade.gov. The 

closing period for their receipt is 

January 29, 2024. 

A copy of the notification will be 

available for public inspection in the 

‘‘Online FTZ Information System’’ 

section of the Board’s website. 

For further information, contact 

Juanita Chen at juanita.chen@trade.gov. 

Dated: December 12, 2023. 

Juanita Chen, 

Acting Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27700 Filed 12–15–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–570–155] 

Certain Pea Protein From the People’s 

Republic of China: Preliminary 

Affirmative Countervailing Duty 

Determination, Preliminary Affirmative 

Critical Circumstances Determination, 

and Alignment of Final Determination 

With Final Antidumping Duty 

Determination 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 

determines that countervailable 

subsidies are being provided to 

producers and exporters of certain pea 

protein (pea protein) from the People’s 

Republic of China (China) during the 

period of investigation, January 1, 2022, 

through December 31, 2022. Interested 

parties are invited to comment on this 

preliminary determination. 

DATES: Applicable December 18, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristen Johnson and Laura Griffth, AD/ 

CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement 

and Compliance, International Trade 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 

(202) 482–4793 and (202) 482–6430, 

respectively. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This preliminary determination is 

made in accordance with section 703(b) 

of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 

(the Act). Commerce published the 

notice of initiation of this investigation 

on August 7, 2023.1 On September 8, 

2023, Commerce postponed the 

preliminary determination of this 

investigation until December 11, 2023.2


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